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Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?

Utilitarianism is a philosophy based on practicality and maximizing the most amount of good for the most amount of people. In what ways can A Christmas Carol be considered a refutation of this practical philosophy?

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57 thoughts on “Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?”

The message that A Christmas Carol conveys to the readers is that utilitarianism is bad. In the begining of the story, Scrooge supports the idea of utalitarianism when he says that the poor people should die and decrease the surplus population because it would benifit the majority. The Ghost of Christmas Past reminds Scrooge of his happy life as a boy, when he did not have a utilitarian mind. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge people who Scrooge originally thought would be better for society if they were dead. Scrooge feels sympathetic for these poor people, and he reconsiders how well utilitarianism really works for the entire population, not just the upper class. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come shows Scrooge his grim future if he continues to follow utilitarianism. In the end, Scrooge abandons his utilitarian ways and supports the poor, and he is much happier than he was at the begining of the story. Dickens shows us how negative Scrooge’s life is in a utilitarian world, which causes us to think that utilitarianism is bad.

Dickens aims to show readers through A Christmas Carol that Utilitarianism is bad. At first, Scrooge puts others down and is willing to let the poor die in order to decrease the surplus people that need to be accounted for. This would include characters such as Tiny Tim, a poor young boy who is crippled. If his family had the money to pay for doctors, he may not be so sick. If Scrooge’s original outlook was put through, the boy wouldn’t be taken care of and would eventually die, as shown with Scrooge’s visit with The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come. But, in the end, Scrooge has an epiphany and realizes that he must learn to treat others more lovingly. He becomes a second father to Tiny Tim and the boy lives. Therefore, Dickens wants to prove to others why Utilitarianism is wrong. Scrooge learned to think the opposite way and to account for everyone, not just those deemed “important.” If the author wanted to prove how Utilitarianism is right, there would be an opposite ending to the story.

Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” does not support the ideas of utilitarianism. Scrooge starts off as an old man concerned with practicality and money, without the joy of Christmas. However, as the story develops, this miser begins to feel sympathy, fear and want. For instance, as he observes the shadows of the future, Scrooge fears his death and hopes that the Spirit will prevent it. This goes against utilitarianism, which does not involve any feelings. In my opinion, Stave Five of this novella does not promote practicality but supports joy, felicity, and benevolence. Scrooge uses his money to show generosity for the poor, or the less wealthy. Unlike the miser before, he even promises to increase his worker’s salary. Also, utilitarianism is referred as science, something practical. Apparently, Scrooge encounters Spirits and lives in the past, present, and the future-which is not a practical science. Furthermore, “A Christmas Carol” proves that there should be most amount of happiness, not only the good, for most people. Good, in my opinion, refers to money and wealth. On the other hand, the major concern in this novella is joy (the true aspect of a Christmas day), not shillings.

From my understanding, Dickens is trying to tell the reader, that utilitarianism is bad. One example of when utilitarianism is supported is when Scrooge tells the people who are asking him why he is not donating money. Scrooge says that they should let the poor people die thus reducing the surplus of population. Scrooge also claims that it is for the benefit of the people if there is a smaller population. The point that Scrooge does not notice in the beginning is that if he doesn’t donate money then people like tiny Tim and his family would not have enough money to pay the doctors, thus not giving tiny Tim the proper medical attention and eventually dying. Once Scrooge has his epiphany, he realizes that everyone, even if they are poor should have love and he changes his mind on letting the poor people die. He thinks that even if it betters the majority it still isn’t fair to the poor people by the end.

Dickens tells us, through A Christmas Carol, that utilitarianism is very bad. At first, Scrooge says that the poor people should be left to die so the majority can benefit from the decrease of the surplus population. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge the very people he is talking about, the Cratchits, he begins to feel bad for these people and this begins to make him reconsider his comment on the poor people being unnecessary in society. The Ghost of Christmas Past reminds Scrooge of how much more relieved his life was before he came obsessed with money and he took on his utilitarian position. I think this also softens Scrooge’s utilitarian position because he is reminded that, at one point, he was one of those poor people he now wants to get rid of. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows him what his life will be like if he continues on this utilitarian path. This is where Scrooge reaches his breaking point. He promises to be a good person and to keep the Christmas spirit all year long. Scrooge learned to care for everyone, not just the upper class or the majority. He will now and forever, take everyone’s views into account before he does something that could hurt himself or someone else.

In the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Utilitarianism is frowned upon. However Scrooge likes the concept. He once said that all the poor should die to decrease the surplus population. When the ghost of Christmas present took Scrooge to see Tiny Tim his cold heart melted. He wanted the poor boy to live and the spirit told Scrooge that he was more unfit to live than Tiny Tim. In my opinions Utilitarianism is all about perspective. In certain scenarios it may seem like the right concept to follow but other times it’s wrong. In class today we discussed a scenario in which Mrs. Quinson said that twenty percent of children lived in poverty. She converted it into a Utilitarianistic point of view and said that it was fine because the MAJORITY of the children were living in prosperous households. Many kids disagreed saying that all children should be able to live in well to do family( bad concept of utilitarianism. Another scenario is voting. The person to become president gets the majority of the votes, so that means a greater percent of people would be pleased.

In A Christmas Carol, Dickens persuades the reader that utilitarianism is bad. At first, Scrooge lets people die because he said it would “decrease the surplus population”. Dickens shows us that this is a bad idea through the Ghost of Christmas yet to come who shows Scrooge what his life would be like if he followed his utilitarian ways. As a ghost, Marley tells Scrooge that mankind should be his business meaning that “charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence” is what life is all about, not business as in banking. A Christmas Carol is a great refutation of utilitarianism.

In “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens there is definitely an opposition to the belief of Utilitarianism. THe main character Scrooge has very Utilitarianistic beliefs and says that the poor should die so that the surplus population will drop helping the majority. When Scrooge is with the Ghost of Christmas Present he starts to realize that his beliefs need to change when the Ghost brings him to the Cratchit family home to see their hardships. When Scrooge sees the horrible life that the Cratchits have to go through he realizes that helping just the majority may be morally wrong. That even though they are just a few people they deserve a good life just as much as anyone else. The Utilitarianism belief seems somewhat wrong to me. From a moral standpoint I can’t just allow the majority to be happy, you can’t be content with just a majority. I think that happiness can’t be defined to what is practical, that happiness can be anything that will make someone smile or appreciate their life or others. Just as in the document we read in class, Utilitarianism, is basically a scientific view of creating happiness.

In “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens is trying to show how Utilitarianism is bad. He shows this belief through Scrooge. Scrooge is a Utilitarianist in the beginning of the novel. He expresses this when he says that his nephew should not be happy from Christmas because he is spending money he doesn’t have. His nephew tries to tell him that that is not the point, but Scrooge insists that it will only lead to false happiness and not do him any good in the long run. At the end of the novel, Scrooge realizes the error in his ways. He does good things for people, despite how it may hinder him, and feels good because of it. Utilitarian beliefs would say that doing good is not emotional and should not be done so. Scrooge does not express this belief because he helps people, and that makes him happy. “A Christmas Carol” is a perfect example of Dickens speaking out against Utilitarianism.

Dickens shows us that utilitarianism is bad in “A Christmas Carol”. In the beginning of the book, Scrooge says that the poor should die so that the surplus population will drop, helping most people. He favored utilitarianism before the Ghosts changed him. The Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come helped Scrooge realize that utilitarianism is not good. The Ghost of Christmas Present made Scrooge feel guilty and bad for the poor after he saw the state Tiny Tim and his family were in. This Ghost helped him change his opinion about utilitarianism and what he said about the poor should die. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come showed Scrooge what his future would be like if he continued to follow the ways of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism played a big role in “A Christmas Carol”.

In a “Christmas Carol”, Scrooge only thinks for the betterment of himself that is, in the beginning. He does not think of others, he even says that the poor should die to eliminate surplus population. However this can be taken two ways. One is that it can be considered Utilitarianism because eliminating surplus population would mean less mouths to feed and it would be better for the community as a whole. On the other hand this could also be considered individualism, Scrooge may have been to cheap and unwilling to donate any money only thinking of himself. So probably he says this because he does not want to spend money on others and he wants the men to leave him alone. I felt Scrooge said this in more of a selfish manner and not for the greater good of the population. At the end, after Scrooge changes, Scrooge seems to want happiness for all people, no matter what class they are in. He tries to help all others become happy, I think towards the end of the book he becomes a Utilitarian (Is that the word for a follower of Utilitarianism?) because until then he never cared for others only thinking of himself.

In A Christmas Carol, Dickens is conveying his disapproval of utilitarianism. In the beginning, before Scrooge’s transformation, he supports utilitarianism and believes that the few who are poor should be allowed to die off and “decrease the surplus population” as long as the rich as left alone and caused no harm. When the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge, he is reminded that as a young man, he had the opposite attitude toward wealth and morality. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him that the less fortunate people that Scrooge thought did not matter, were really happy and lovely people, after all. Then, the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come showed Scrooge that the death of a poor boy, such as Tiny Tim, brings many people great sorrow and pain. As he changes, Scrooge begins to feel sympathetic for these people that he originally thought might as well be dead and realizes that although utilitarianism may be fair to the masses, it is not fair to everyone. Those like the Cratchit family, cannot help themselves and could benefit from assistance from the wealthy. In the end, Scrooge is happier when he changes his ways and starts to care for others.

Dickens is trying to prove through “A Christmas Carol” that utilitarianism is bad. In the beginning of “A Christmas Carol” Scrooge says that those who would rather die than go to a prison or workhouse should do so, and decrease the surplus of population. This would benefit the majority of people (obviously not those who would be doing the dying). At the end however, Scrooge’s outlook on this has completely changed. He is no longer a believer in utilitarianism. He believes that he should help all people, regardless of whether it would help the majority of people, and regardless of their class. I think Scrooge’s realization that utilitarianism is bad happens when he is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present. He sees the Cratchits celebrating Christmas, and realizes that poor people should be helped.

Dickens’ doesn’t support utilitarianism in The Christmas Carol. When the story first begins, it is clear the Scrooge strongly believes in utilitarianism. When he is asked to donate money to the poor, he says no. He believed that they should let the poor people die. The “benefit” of doing this is that the surplus population is reduced. He believed that a smaller population would be beneficial from many people. When Scrooge says this, he does not realize that many families, such as the Cratchets, were barely scraping along. On top of having to feed their family, they also have to pay for Tiny Tim’s medical bills. When the ghost of Christmas present visits Scrooge and shows him this, his point of view changes. A Christmas Carol is clearly against the idea of utilitarianism.

Throughout the novel, “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens clearly displays his opposition to the notion of utilitarianism. He first displays his opposition during the visit of the Ghost of Christmas Past. When Scrooge is asked to donate money to the poor, he flat out refuses. This action displays that if the general population is happy and given the opportunity to succeed, why should the smaller amount of the less fortunate be assisted? With the “surplus population” eliminated, there would be less people for Britain to provide for, thus enabling the country to assist the greater realm of people. In this whole event, the idea of utilitarianism is criticized. “A Christmas Carol” is a great example as to why this mindset is a poor way of thinking.

As Charles Dickens is writing the novella A Christmas Carol he clearly sees utilitarianism as a horrible thing. He strongly disapproves with it by how and what he wrote in the novella. For example Scrooge within the first stave says that people should die. But then in the Third Stave the ghost of Christmas present who contradicts this idea by showing him the Cratchit family, and especially Tiny Tim, whom he now feels sorry for. Scrooge eventually moves away from his utilitarianism and learns that this way of thinking is not suited for the majority of people. This utilitarianistic way of thinking isn’t always right and Scrooge learns that by the end of the novella.

I think A Christmas Carol can be considered a refutation of utilitarianism. In the concept of utilitarianism, an action is right if it gives happiness or reduces pain for the majority of people. There are many examples that go against the idea of utilitarianism. One example is “decreasing the surplus population.” There were many people in need of money A Christmas Carol, such as Tiny Tim. Scrooge thought that poor people and sick people should just die, and it would be better for the majority of people. The Ghosts of Christmas showed him that it was important to give to these people, and Scrooge eventually feels this way too. Another example is when he does not want to donate money to the homeless. He thought that letting a couple of homeless people have a home would just make life more uncomfortable for the people living around them. The Ghosts of Christmas once again showed him that it was important to donate money to the homeless. Through A Christmas Carol, Dickens shows that he does not agree with utilitarianism.

I believe Dickens is trying to prove that utilitarianism is wrong and we should not only think of the common wealth, but individuals should be taken into account also. I think that this was really proven with the two children; Want and Ignorance. This is when the Ghost of Christmas Present used Scrooge’s own words against him. The Ghost of Christmas Present says “are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?” In regard to decreasing the surplus population. Scrooge hadn’t realized that decreasing the surplus population could affect him, as Tiny Tim would be killed if you went with this theory. I believe Scrooge had the epiphany that utilitarianism is not good after seeing Want and Ignorance, because after seeing Ignorance, he should no longer be ignorant.

In the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, utilitarianism is disapproved. In the beginning of the novel Scrooge was refusing to contribute a donation to charity. He did so because he believed in utilitarianism. When refusing to give money to charity, he refused to because it wouldn’t benefit or anyone else either. In fact, he believed that not giving any money to the poor and needy would be good for the majority because it decreases the surplus population. By decreasing the surplus population, there are fewer mouths to feed. Scrooge is also intended to be included in the majority of good. It was good for him not to give money to the poor because then he is not losing money. Basically, Scrooge was a supporter of utilitarianism in the beginning. Later in the novel, by having Scrooge see the past, present, and future, he realized that utilitarianism is not always right. Since Scrooge realized that utilitarianism is wrong, Dickens is also trying to make the readers think about and realize that utilitarianism is wrong. That answers the main question at hand here, is this novel demoting utilitarianism? Yes, yes it is.

In the novella, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens sends a message that utilitarianism is bad. In the beginning, Scrooge expressed that he believed that it was okay for the poorer people to die, and decrease the surplus population. He thought that way it would benefit the rest of the people and be “for the greater good”. However, Scrooge is shown by the spirits that he was wrong, and they helped him come to this realization. His outlook completely changes, and in the end everything is right. This shows that Dickens does not agree with the idea of utilitarianism, and that people will be less ignorant and less greedy without it.

In A Christmas Carol, Dickens was expressing the idea that utilitarianism is bad. In the beginning, Scrooge only cared about himself. He was a cheap old man that never gave to charities because they are only a small percent of the population. Scrooge does not care about a family who has no money to feed themselves or pay doctors for their sick, young boy named Tiny Tim. It’s only one family right? Scrooge at first did believe in utilitarianism, but Dickens proved that it was not a good life style. Dickens then brought in the ghosts to change his crude ways. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows that there is still hope for the future and there is time to change. At the end of the book, Scrooge turned nice and worried about specific people like Tiny Tim. He was not going to leave Tiny Tim out because he was not the majority of the population. Scrooge cared about individuals and groups of people at the same time. Scrooge taught everybody a very valuable lesson and Dickens got his message across about the concept of utilitarianism.

I think that in the beginning of the book it is saying that utilitarianism is wrong. I think it is saying that because Scrooge only cared about himself, his wealth and how his wealth would grow. He did not care about the dying children from factories or defects, he said it would have “decreased the surplus population.” Dickens shows this is bad and that every individual should be cared for. I think he also argues that it is selfish and bad because how does one choose who will die, if one must die to save 1,000?

To the contrary, I think this novel promotes a form of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is all about the greater good, and working together to create happiness and prosperity for the maximum amount of people. In the beginning of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is not at all following utilitarianism, only thinking of his own selfish desires and greed. He was even reluctant to give Bob the day off for Christmas! Once he has his epiphany, he realizes the importance of the happiness of others, like Homer does in the Simpsons Movie, and with love and generosity gives to others, like he gave the giant turkey to the Cratchits, so that the maximum amount of people may be happy. He becomes a man devoted to utilitarianism, working for the greater good, and the happiness of others.

Dickens is trying to portray that the idea of utilitarianism is the road to destruction. In the beginning of the book, Scrooge posesses many utilitarian ideas; he says that anything that is good for the society as a whole must be the right thing, and everything else, such as feeding the poor, is an unnecessary concern, as it is not benefitting most people. Through being this way, Scrooge earns the hatred of most of the people he meets. He learns through the Ghosts that he must stop his utilitarianistic ideas, and, in the end, lives a happy and cheerful life. In a brilliant way, Dickens uses this book to expose the negativity of utilitarianism, and shows that people that live with the ideas of utilitarianism (like Scrooge) will lead an unhappy life and will be loved by nobody.

Utilitarianism is refuted many times in The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. We can observe that Dickens believes that utilitarianism is not a correct principle to live by. At first, when Scrooge is a mean, rude and bitter man, he commits many sins. Scrooge is uncaring and nasty to his family, as he talks rather rudely to his nephew who came to his house to just wish him a merry Christmas. In a way, he is also rude and mean to himself because Scrooge was being described as neglecting himself. He only used a couple of rooms in his house, and never used lights or heat. He was cheap with himself. After his epiphany, Ebenezer becomes happy, caring and loving as he rejoices with his family and friends and opens himself up to the world. These events go against utilitarianism because even when Scrooge has a very bad and bitter past, he was still able to get something good out of this experience as he became the happy self he was when the story ended. Scrooge was able to change his negative fate, turn his life around, and make up for his attitude at the beginning of this book. If this story actually supported utilitarianism, Scrooge would have died — all sad, and alone, without any friends or family.

Through A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens tries to convince readers that utilitarianism is sometimes good. Although Scrooge may think that getting rid of the people who don’t benefit society in his mind, the poor and the people who spend money carelessly, he sees through his experiences with the ghosts that they are people too. He learns that they all are significant and that no matter how much lower they may be money wise than him, they matter all the same. I think that Dickens does a great job of illustrating this point through showing Scrooge how happy he was as a boy when he was poor, and how happy the Cratchits are though they have no money, and his nephew even though he doesn’t save his money. In the end, you have to realize that everyone counts and no one is more important than anyone else.

Dickens hosts a very negative view of utilitarianism in general and expresses it in A Christmas Carol. The time period of A Christmas Carol takes place was during the Industrial Revolution in Britain. During this time, there was an increase in child labor and other vile things. Scrooge however, possesses many of the utilitarian views, some do get very cruel by today’s standards though. He feels that small things such as feeding the poor, shouldn’t be done as it doesn’t benefit the vast majority of society. Dickens shows through Scrooge’s character that these beliefs bring nothing but sorrow and loneliness. Overall, Dickens really dislikes utilitarianism.

In my belief, A Christmas Carol reflects this concept perfectly, but it goes one step further by stating how doing something that is good for others will, in return, bring good to you. This is shown when scrooge starts making other people happy, and becomes happy himself.

In a Christmas Carol , Dickens obviously is against the concept of utilitarianism. Scrooge, who represents a utilitarian, only cares for money and himself- he cares for no one else besides himself. When someone asks him to donate to charity, he says “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”, which shows he does not care what happens to the poor. However, Scrooge’s change in character from a miser to a caring and loving man shows that utilitarianism is not the way to happiness, because Scrooge was originally supposed to die alone, with no one even caring.

Charles Dickens is really not a big fan of utilitarianism at all. As he writes A Christmas Carol, it shows that it is not a good thing, even if it may seem like that doing good for the most people is good. In this case, Scrooge says that people will just simply die, and it will benefit others by “decreasing the surplus” in London. It may be doing good for the majority of the population, but it isn’t very good for those poor people like Tiny Tim and Cratchit. It shows that utilitarianism is not a good thing, and may lead to a gloomy life as Scrooge had for many years. He changes, seeing that sometimes you must go out of your way to help the minority, as Scrooge helps out Tiny Tim. Utilitarianism isn’t always the best way of thinking, which Scrooge learns in the course of the novella.

Dickens definitely discourages the idea of utilitarianism. In the beginning, Scrooge wants the unneeded people (the “surplus population”) to go down, for the greater good; an idea of utilitarianism. The Cratchits are poor, and in Scrooge’s words, would be defined as the surplus population. His words are used against him when the Ghost of Christmas Present and Future show him the sickness and death of Tiny Tim, the Cratchits’ son, the Cratchits being his clerk’s family. He sees the error of ways, and doesn’t want the innocent to die, even if it will be beneficial to his kind; the rich. Depicted by the standpoint of this story, utilitarianism is wrong. Dickens thinks that a happy majority isn’t enough, and that even the minority deserve to be happy and healthy as well. Not only this, but he also promotes the idea that everyone is equal and should be cared for as such, whichever group it makes happier.

Utilitarianism is a theory that you are doing the right thing when you are maximizing happiness and reducing suffering for most people. Scrooge said that “If they[the poor] would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” One could argue that he practices Utilitarianism but you could also argue he’s not. It can be considered Utilitarianism because decreasing surplus population would mean that there would be less people to feed but this may not have been for the betterment of everyone. Scrooge may have been too cheap and unwilling to donate any money therefore only thinking of himself. Scrooge most likely said this because he wanted to save money. He probably is not thinking of what is best for he majority of people. At the end, Scrooge had a change of heart. He started caring about other people and not just about money. He donates the money to the two men who came by his office earlier. You can see that he starts to maximize happiness and minimizes pain.

Utilitarianism is a theory that you are doing the right thing when you are maximizing happiness and minimizing suffering for most people. Ebeneezer Scrooge said that, “If they[the poor] would rather die[than go to the workhouses], they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” One could argue that he practices Utilitarianism but you could also argue he’s not. It can be considered Utilitarianism because decreasing surplus population would mean that there would be less people to feed but Scrooge may not have meant this for the betterment of everyone. Scrooge may have been too cheap to donate money. Scrooge most likely said this because he wanted to save money. He probably was not thinking of what is best for the majority of people. At the end of The Christmas Carol, Scrooge had a change of heart. He started caring about other people and not just about money. He donates the money to the two men who came by his office earlier. You can see that he starts to maximize happiness and minimizes pain.

Utilitarianism is the belief that it is only the right thing if it is good for the most amount of people. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge must learn this belief. He is a selfish man in the beginning, not donating money to anybody or anything that wouldn’t benefit himself. But after the visit from the three ghost, Scrooge learns that it is better to do things for the greater good. He donates to a company that he had refused to donate to before, to help the poor people that could not afford food or clothing or things of the sort. In this change of heart, Scrooge indirectly learns about utilitarianism, and begins practicing it.